Inside Intelligence: About Those Paxton Controversies...

For this week’s nonscientific survey of insiders in government and politics, we asked about Attorney General Ken Paxton's future.

Not too much ambiguity this week on how the insiders view things: On the first question, about whether the current special prosecutors' investigation will end in an indictment, nearly 90 percent said yes.

More than 70 percent don't attribute a political motive to the investigation, while 80-plus percent don't expect to see a resolution to the legal issues before the end of the year.

The insiders are a little more split on the question of whether Paxton will be able to serve out his full term of office.

Fully 60 percent don't believe he will make it to the end of his term. Another 20 percent think that he will serve out his term. A similar number said they don't know at this point whether will Paxton survives as a state officeholder.

We collected comments along the way, and a full set of those is attached. Here’s a sampling:

• "Yes, Special Prosecutors have to make a name some way, and what better than to indict and Attorney General."

• "If a ham sandwich can be indicted, then Ken Paxton can be indicted. Convicted? That's a different story..."

• "President Reagan's '11th Commandment' of not speaking ill of a fellow Republican is not applicable here; General Paxton's behavior and comments are so appalling, and criminally-intended, he deserves to be indicted and judged by a jury."

• "A Grand Jury in McKinney does not indict a Ham Sandwich. It must be bad."